On Monday, June 5, at 3:52 pm., Martin Benjamin, who was suspected of participating in illegal drug activity in the area of  55 Portland Street, was stopped by Portland Police.  A search revealed that Benjamin, a Portland resident, was in possession of 67 grams of Fentanyl (enough to kill an estimated 33,500 people) as well as small amounts of methamphetanines and Cocaine HCL.  He was arrested and charged with Aggravated Trafficking of Scheduled Drugs, unlawul Possession of Scheduled W Drug and Violating Conditions of Release.

Drug overdose statistics for the period of January through May, show the numbers increased 24.7% from 2021 (178) to 2023 (222),.  Despite the large increase, this number is significantly lower than the 89.4% increase seen from 2021 (94) to 2022  (178).